Patricia L. Tully

SALISBURY — Patricia Tully, 91, died suddenly of a heart attack on Oct. 31, 2020, at her home at Noble Horizons. She and her late husband, George Tully, were long-time residents of the Lakeville-Salisbury area. 

Born June 21, 1929, and raised in Mount Vernon, N.Y., Pat attended the College of New Rochelle. 

She and George raised four children in Pelham, N.Y., before moving to Lakeville more than 45 years ago. After the move, Pat earned a MSW in counseling and opened a solo practice in her home in Lakeville. She practiced for more than 20 years and was well-known in the community for her counseling and social work.

George and Pat were popular figures in the Northwest Corner since George worked for The Lakeville Journal and volunteered with the Salisbury Volunteer Ambulance Squad and at Sharon Hospital. They often traveled to Rochester, N.Y., and the Boston, Mass., area to visit family. They made frequent trips to Tanglewood and Stockbridge, Mass., and Rockport, Mass., in the summer and these places became very special to them over the years. 

Pat was a smart and feisty woman all her life. A voracious reader and constant thinker, Pat would “wax philosophical” on all sorts of subjects at all sorts of hours. Whether in person or over the telephone, her children could expect to discuss topics as diverse as women’s health, climate change, evolution, the plight of minorities in the world as well as politics and the arts. Fortunately, her mind remained strong and incisive, even as her body started to fail her in the past few years.

After George’s death in January 2013, Pat was cared for by a number of “my ladies,” who kept her company and helped her as she aged. She loved them greatly as a “second family” and her children are very grateful for their tenderness, love and compassion for Pat.

Pat was preceded in death by her husband of 62 years, George Tully; her parents, Louise and Charles Ryan; and her brother, Robert Ryan. 

She is survived by her four children, Anne Herman of Anchorage, Alaska, Patricia Sullivan and her husband, Richard, of Norwell, Mass., James Tully and his wife, Elizabeth, of Eugene, Ore., and Jean Pruitt of Westminster, Colo. She leaves behind three grandchildren, Matthew and Caroline Sullivan and David Pruitt and his wife, Hannah; and two great-grandchildren, Asa and Hazelynn Pruitt. Pat is also survived by her brothers Lawrence and Jerome Ryan.

Pat will be cremated and her ashes mingled with her beloved husband, George. Together they will be scattered in the Atlantic Ocean “with the whales” next spring. 

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Pat’s memory to a charity that focuses on women’s health or underserved and vulnerable populations.

Arrangements are under the care of the Palmer-Newkirk Funeral Home in North Canaan.